US Lawmakers Grilled CEO Shou Zi Chew During The Tiktok Congressional Hearing
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Salma Hossein
- . March 24, 2023
- . Update: March 24, 2023 9:28 pm
CEO Shou Zi Chew’s statement before Congress did little to alleviate U. S. Fears about ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, which is headquartered in China, have given demands for a national prohibition on the platform’s fresh life.
Chew denied disclosing information or having any associations with the Chinese Communist Party to ensure the 150 million American users’ security.
According to Chew, TikTok has been developing “what essentially translates to a firewall to seal off secured U.S. User data from unwanted international access” for more than two years.
The fundamental conclusion is that American information is stored on American land by an American corporation under American control, Chew added.
But, not one lawmaker backed TikTok because some thought Chew’s answers on China were evasive, and they were concerned about the app’s influence over American children.
TikTok is alleged of promoting offensive material that supports the sale of drugs, eating disorders, and sexual exploitation.
Democratic Representative Kathy Castor said during a hearing of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce committee that “TikTok could have been engineered to reduce the damage to children, but a choice was made to aggressively addict children in the pursuit of profits.”
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Chew responded to many critical inquiries by saying that the issues were “complicated” and not unique to TikTok.
The company asserts to have invested more than $1.5 billion on data security initiatives, with nearly 1,500 full-time staff and a contract with Oracle Corp. (ORCL). Project Texas is recognized by this moniker. TikTok uses N) to store U. S. information regarding the user.
However, the company’s failure to disclose any fresh privacy protection initiatives did not placate critics.
Chew, who began his evidence by acknowledging his Singaporean origin, stated that the Chinese government does not urge that we promote or remove information. “.
“To this review panel and all of our users,” he added, “we pledge to maintain (TikTok) free from every government manipulation.” He said that the app strictly monitors content that might harm a child.
Following the hearing, legislators’ next moves and potential timetable for passing legislation to strengthen the Biden government’s legal standing to outlaw TikTok are uncertain.
It says not about ownership. About 20 U. S. TikTok’s destiny has introduced a new layer to relations between Washington and Beijing.
President Joe Biden’s government now has a way to outlaw the app thanks to the support of 20 senators, including 10 Democratic and 10 Republicans.
TikTok last week stated the Biden administration insisted its Chinese owners renounce their shares or face a potential ban.
When asked about a potential divestment, Chew said it was “not about ownership” and asserted that U. S. could ease concerns. S. Storage centers.
China would reject any sale, according to the trade ministry, which also claimed that forcing TikTok to sell “would gravely impair the confidence of investors from all over the globe, including China, to invest in the United States.”.
In order to disprove TikTok’s assertion that it is independent of the Chinese government, some MPs used China’s words.
During Thursday’s House session, Representative Neal Dunn questioned Chew about whether Byte Dance had spied on Americans at the request of Beijing. No, Chew responded”.
Republican Dunn then asked about the U. S. According to media sources, ByteDance’s China-based team planned to utilize TikTok to track specific U.S. citizens.
Chew contended that “spying” wasn’t the right word for the situation. Dunn cut him off by describing TikTok’s widespread use as “a cancer” and adding that the reports were the result of an “internal investigation”.
Shares of U. S. On Thursday, the valuation of social media businesses that compete with TikTok for marketing rose, headed by the parent company of Facebook, Meta Platforms Inc. (META). Snap Inc. (SNAP) and O) finished 2 points 2 percent higher. N) increased 3.1 percent.
“SNAP and META are up on the thought that the CEO didn’t succeed and that TikTok may be banned,” claims Thomas Hayes, chairman and controlling member of Great Hill Capital. “I believe that the findings of TikTok’s dying may be highly exaggerated. “. It reads, “SAVE OUR CHILDREN.”
Democratic legislator Tony Cardenas chastised Chew for being a “good dancer with words” and avoiding answering probing questions regarding the data demonstrating that the app has impacted children’s mental health.
Chew claimed that perhaps the business was spending that money on machine learning and content moderation to confine such content.
Diana DeGette, a Democratic congresswoman, asserted that TikTok’s efforts to curtail the distribution of incorrect material on the network had been ineffective.
“All you offered me were generalizations about your investing, your concern, and your work. For me, that is not sufficient. Parents in America will not be content with that, according to DeGette.
A representative, Gus Bilirakis, showed the committee a collection of brief TikTok videos that either subtly or overtly encouraged viewers to self-harm, commit suicide, or both.
In fact, according to Bilirakis, “your technology is leading to death.”. We need to protect our kids from large tech companies like yours that continue to mistreat and exploit them for profit.
TikTok takes the issue of self-harm and suicide “very, very sincerely,” Chew said to Bilirakis. China does not have TikTok, however ByteDance does offer a Chinese alternative called Douyin.
However, the listening was followed closely all through the country, and posts about it on the micro – blogging webpage Weibo did receive thousands of views, with many users showing support for Shou as well as criticism of United States “hostility”.
On Thursday, Hu Xijin, an editorial director of a state-run gossip rag Interview Published, tweeted: “The U. S. Is this time trying to rob TikTok, yet it’s disingenuously going through the hearing process.
